


It's Been a Long Day Without You, my Friend

by TheChosenAvatar



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Comfort, Death of a pet, Depression, Gen, Loss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-29
Updated: 2015-04-29
Packaged: 2018-03-26 07:40:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3842590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheChosenAvatar/pseuds/TheChosenAvatar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Korra is devastated at the loss of her animal companion. Written to deal with my own feelings over just losing a pet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Been a Long Day Without You, my Friend

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: This story may trigger depression or bad memories because it centers on Naga's death. Please do not read if this will trigger you. This was written because I just lost a pet and writing helps me cope.

You wish for a moment that it was you slowly dying. You who couldn’t control your muscles, jerking and locking as you are rendered helpless, drool spilling from the sides of your mouth and your bladder relieving itself on its own accord.

You wish that it was you so that you wouldn’t have to watch your best friend suffer like this.

It all happened so quickly. She was fine just last week, bounding through town with you on her back as her ears flapped happily in the breeze, her eyes bright and tongue wagging. When you slid off her back and stood next to her with flowers hidden behind your back and a blush on your cheeks, she had nudged you up to Asami with her nose, encouraging you. She always had your back.

When you were weak and poisoned and could see nothing but darkness, she was endlessly patient, there with you every day as you tried to regain your ability to walk. She was your light at the end of a horribly long tunnel.

She didn’t care whether you looked like shit or were in a crabby mood. You were always welcomed with a lick and a hug. Well, her version of a hug, which meant nearly trampling you with her front paws. But you didn’t mind, catching her as you both fell back. She was always your baby, no matter how big she was.

But now she was sick, so very sick, and though she was still breathing you knew she had truly died a few days ago. She was just a shell of her former self now, in so much pain. You knew the inevitable next step.

Ending her life had been the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do you. You made it as peaceful and easy for her as you could, holding her as you bent the last bit of energy out of her body. When you felt her heart stop you sobbed into her fur, incoherent sobs raking through the too-still air.

You think about when you first saw her as a little girl. She was just a young pup and you almost missed her in midst of the harsh snow storm. A tiny bark alerted you to a pair of small eyes and a little pink tongue panting softly. You had scooped her up and carried her to safety, and the two of you were inseparable from then on.

Just as with an Airbender’s bison, your polar bear dog chose you.

Watching a being that was once so strong and vibrant deduced to a pile of struggling muscles and unfocused eyes is something you wish you’d never had to see. You wonder how other people handle it, but know it doesn’t matter how they do. It’s of little comfort anyway.

You didn’t think it was possible for the Avatar to lose their animal companion. She seemed as much a part of you as your bending. It feels unnatural that she’s gone. Sickening, even.

The days after her passing crawl by. Everything feels like a bad dream, going through the motions of everyday life with a gaping barren spot in your heart. You still have to convince yourself that this is real, and that she’s not just going to walk up to you like she was on a vacation.

She’s gone, and you can’t accept it.

You eat out of necessity, but it tastes like nothing. You absently throw a piece of meat to the ground for her to pick up, before remembering that she’s never coming to get it.

You scream and slam your hand on the steering wheel of a Satomobile, the cold, unyielding leather a sad, sad replacement for flesh and fur.

Your stomach hurts constantly. Like there’s a dull pain that doesn’t recede no matter what you drink or how you lay. You know it’s your body telling you that something’s not right. Something’s out of balance, and your helpless to quell the pain because the something you need is never coming back.

You train harder than ever so you can try and not remember. Try to forget that you had to put down the greatest friend you’ve ever had. Try to stop your hands from lightly shaking constantly.

You take her saddle and put it next to you when you sleep. It still smells like her a bit, makes you feel like she’s there to protect you.

Sometimes you say words into the night. You tell her that you miss her and ask her to come back. When you wake up in the morning and she’s not there you feel like you’ve been lied to.

It’s hard for people to understand the magnitude of your loss, understand that she was more than a pet. She was your best friend, a part of your family. She loved you unconditionally and you loved her back. It’s hard to let go but people don’t seem to take animal deaths as seriously as human deaths. You think that it’s a shame.

* * *

 

When Asami approaches you on Air Temple Island you are sitting by the pond, staring at the water but not really seeing anything. It’s hard to feel anything but coldness or numbness, even after a few days.

Asami softly touches the side of your face, sitting down next to you and giving you a steaming hot cup of tea. You welcome it, drinking it, glad that it burns your tongue and throat so you can feel something other than hollow stomach pains and headaches.

Asami gives you something else. It’s an urn with soil and seeds in it. She explains to you that you put Naga’s ashes in it, plant the urn, and a tree then grows.

 _That way she can always be with you. You can take care of each other again. She’ll be re-born, just like a puppy again but a baby tree instead,_ Asami says.

You can’t help the tears spilling from your eyes now.

Asami asks if she was wrong to make this for you, starts apologizing even.

You tell her it’s the most wonderful thing, burying your face into her as she holds you tightly while you cry.

You take Asami’s hand and lead her to where you want to plant the tree. You leave wordlessly to retrieve the ashes of your friend and return to Asami, who takes them from you and prepares the urn.

After preparations are made, you hold the urn in your hands and you swear you can feel Naga thanking you for not putting her in a box somewhere under the ground. She’s happy that she’ll be able to see you every day here. You feel a weight finally leave your shoulders as you place the urn into the ground and pat the soil down around it.

You thank your polar bear dog for everything, memories flashing through your mind in a flurry. Naga giving you wet kisses. Naga swiping Asami in the face with her tail. Naga taking a ride with you through the Southern Water Tribe villages, howling happily when you reach the edge of cliff far on out. Naga gleefully playing catch with you. Naga cuddling with you after a bad day.

Naga loving you no matter what.

A single tear escapes from your face, landing on the packed soil.

Asami pulls you back as a sprout begins to surface, slowly growing.

You gaze in wonder as the sprout turns into a full tree, its trunk slim and white and beautiful, leaves full and blowing softly in the wind.

Asami smiles sadly, softly.

You go up to the tree and take Naga’s collar out of your pocket, tying it around the tree.

It’s a perfect fit.

You throw your arms around the trunk, hugging it tightly.

 _I love you,_ you whisper, and for a moment everything is okay.

**Author's Note:**

> RIP Belle, my little cocker spaniel terrier mix, 2001-2015. 
> 
> Most of the things in the story are pretty much how I'm feeling right now, I had to put her down on Monday, but I know she's happier now and out of pain. 
> 
> The only thing I don't have is an Asami. i really wish I had an Asami (don't we all?!)
> 
> I have a Korrasami mug which has been my safety blanket for this whole thing and I keep drinking tea out of it. 
> 
> I am also actually getting the EterniTree so I can grow a tree from her ashes. 
> 
> Thank you for reading, sorry if I made anyone sad!


End file.
